“ Nature had not provided him with certain things which are required for the rough-and-tumble life of party politics. Handicapped by a far from robust constitution, by weak eyesight, and by a thin, high-pitched voice, he was incapable of becoming a powerful orator at public meetings; and even in the House of Commons his keen intelligence, many-sided knowledge, wonderful memory, and strong, healthy common sense failed to obtain the recognition which they deserved. ”

“ To the end of his life he remained a staunch and thoroughgoing Cobdenite , and he had a great difficulty in imagining how any one endowed with an average share of intelligence and a rudimentary knowledge of political economy could call in question the principles of Free Trade: but, in the discussions into which he sometimes allowed himself to be drawn, he always showed the kindly consideration and exquisite courtesy which were among his most prominent characteristics. By surviving friends he will be remembered as one fo the most sympathetic and intellectually cultivated men of his generation. ”

“ All this, however, did not suffice to open for him the door of the Cabinet, and, not withstanding his intimate personal relations with all the leading members of the undivided Liberal party, he never rose to higher official rank than that of Under-Secretary of State for India (1868-74) and for the Colonies (1880-81) . Gradually the House of Commons which no longer deserved be call "the best club in London," lost for him its original charms, and he began to think that he might employ his energies elsewhere. In 1881 the Governorship of Madras was offered to him ”